The Rions Headline Melbourne’s Forum in Career-Defining Show
Written and Captured By | Thomas Golsworthy
There’s something poignantly triumphant about seeing The Rions headline The Forum last Friday night — a journey that began with sweaty gigs at the Workers Club, now culminating in a sold-out theatre and a debut album riding high. Backed by Daezy and Ixaras, the October 10 show felt equal parts celebration, reckoning, and sonic escalation. From the moment the lights dimmed, the energy in the room was both expectant and reverent.
Daezy primed the crowd with a taut, focused set — his brand of moody alt/indie rock acting as a fitting bridge between support and headliner. Ixaras followed with a more euphoric, emotionally raw set: intimate in vocal delivery yet defiantly expansive in attitude, easing the crowd into a collectively surrendered state.
Then The Rions launched in. Their setlist, as documented on setlist.fm, read like a roadmap of their evolution: Welcome to the Conversation opened things with urgency before sliding into crowd favourites Shut You Out, Anakin, Sadie, and Scumbag. What struck me was how deliberate the flow was — they never let the momentum lapse. Mid-set tracks like Take What You Want and Cry offered moments of calm vulnerability, while later songs like Physical Medicine and Night Light brought the roar back.
Their cover of Paramore’s Ain’t It Fun served as a cheeky palate cleanser before the encore closed on Minivan, leaving the crowd in full euphoria. Hearing Night Light tonight carried extra weight — it was the song that first broke them nationally via triple j’s Unearthed High in 2021. Now, as they close their headline run behind Everything Every Single Day, it feels like a full-circle moment.
Their debut, released October 3, is being widely celebrated as a mature, introspective leap. What’s remarkable is how natural the transition feels — they might be playing the Forum now, but they’re still the same band that cut their teeth in small rooms, forging connection by sheer force of personality. The Forum crowd knew the words to nearly every line; halfway through the show, the stage became secondary to the collective voice of the audience.
If there was a misstep — perhaps a couple of transitions felt a touch abrupt, and some newer album cuts didn’t land as instantly as the long-running favourites — it’s only a minor quibble in a night that largely delivered on its promise. For a band whose debut is already climbing in industry recognition, and who’ve long since shaken off their “local upstarts” label, this was a defining moment.
It’s clear: The Rions aren’t just rising — they’ve arrived.